* Saxophonist Eric Person's big band gig last month at NYC's Jazz Standard was reviewed in the December issue of the New York City Jazz Record by Russ Musto, who found the leader's work "inventive" and said the group "had a supple airy sound not often heard in a big band." You can download the mag for free in .pdf format here.

* Meanwhile, The Atlantic has a short feature about Never My Love, a new CD box set collecting the work of singer/songwriter, keyboardist, and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway(pictured). For additional perspectives, the set was the subject of a feature story here by the Philadephia Daily News' Mister Mann Frisby, and reviewed here by Wax Poetics' Eric Luecking.

* Evangeline's Bistro and Music Hall, a new eating and drinking spot in the Central West End promising live jazz and blues several night a week, will celebrate its grand opening tonight. Located at 512 N. Euclid (the corner of Euclid and Washington, Evangeline's will feature Creole and Cajun-style cuisine, with music for the opening festivities provided by guitarist John Farrar and Park Avenue Jazz.

* Jazz radio update: On this week's "Somethin' Else" program on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, host Calvin Wilson features standard tunes composed by jazz musicians, performed by saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, pianist Marcus Roberts, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and more. The program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2 and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.